Free Pick | Tuesday | MLB | April 16

Nelly’s is on a 13-6 NBA run and a 10-7 MLB run for solid returns heading into Tuesday!

#969 New York Yankees (Rodon) +105 over Toronto Blue Jays (Kikuchi) 6:07 PM CT

Toronto handed New York the fifth loss of the season for the Yankees last night with a 3-1 result. The Blue Jays had only four hits in the game, but New York also had just four hits. New York managed to rest its bullpen for the most part after a taxing weekend and there isn’t much of a pricing change to Tuesday even with Carlos Rodon on the mound in a lefty-lefty matchup. Rodon’s 2023 season with New York was a failure but he has looked like the elite starter of 2021 and 2022 so far this season with a 1.72 ERA in three starts. Yusei Kikuchi had his best MLB season last year, but his career HR/9 is 1.6, making a pairing with the Yankees a dangerous one. New York remains an incredibly patient lineup and Kikuchi also had a 4.0 BB/9 so far this season. His groundball rate three starts into the season is the highest of his MLB career by a wide margin and isn’t likely to be the norm moving forward, even if he did have a successful Yankee Stadium start in a no-decision early in April. The bullpen edge is severe in favor of the visitors with a 2.38 ERA for New York relievers and opposing batters hitting .193 while Toronto relievers own a 5.00 ERA this season.